Moderated by make-up artist and Academy governor Leonard Engelman (The Island of Dr. Moreau, Batman & Robin), the symposium will include a discussion of the nominees’ creative process and the presentation of film clips, photographs, and models of their work.

The 2009 Best Make-Up Oscar nominees are:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Greg Cannom, special make-up creator and applicator.

Make-up artist & hairstylist symposium info

Admission to the Make-Up Artist and Hairstylist Symposium is free, but advance tickets are required; they will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets can be obtained online at the Academy’s website (www.oscars.org), by mail, or at the box office during regular business hours beginning Monday, Feb. 2, at 9 a.m.

The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard. For more information, call the Academy at (310) 247-3600 or visit its website.

Casual Day with Javier Ríos and Estíbaliz Gabilondo. Starring Juan Diego, Javier Ríos, Luis Tosar, and Estíbaliz Gabilondo, Max Lemcke’s Cinema Film Writers Circle-winning socially conscious comedyCasual Day had its official debut at the 2007 San Sebastian Film Festival; it opened at Spanish movie houses in May 2008. This year’s Best Actor winner, four years ago Juan Diego was the Cinema Film Writers’ Best Supporting Actor for Carlos Saura’s The 7th Day / El 7º día.

Anything but casual ‘Casual Day’ tops Spanish critics’ awards

From the Academy’s “how to make-up” symposium to world cinema awards: Spain’s Cinema Film Writers Circle has gone all in for Max Lemcke’s second feature, Casual Day. The socially conscious comedy topped the Spanish critics’ Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Daniel and Pablo Remón), and Best Actor (Juan Diego) categories.

In Casual Day, a twenty-something nonconformist (Javier Ríos) is hired by his prospective father-in-law (Juan Diego) to a key position in the older man’s company. Later on, a “casual day” – a (compulsory) company trip to the countryside – turns out to be a make-or-break event for the reluctant new employee. Also in the cast: Luis Tosar, Alberto San Juan, Estíbaliz Gabilondo, and Marta Etura.

And for the record, despite having been up for this year’s Best Newcomer award Lemcke’s feature film debut was Fantastic World / Mundo fantástico back in 2003.

Of note, likely 2009 Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Penélope Cruz (for Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona) lost in that category to Esperanza Pedreño, who plays a Madrid trash handler returning to her village so as to bury her dead cat in Ángeles González-Sinde’s One Word from You / Una palabra tuya.

Kate Winslet among London Film Critics’ winners & losers

From awards season in Spain to the United Kingdom: At the London Film Critics’ Circle Awards, the top choices were Darren Aronofsky’s boxing drama The Wrestler and Danny Boyle’s Mumbai-set Slumdog Millionaire; the former topped the Best Film and Best Actor (Mickey Rourke) categories; the latter topped Best British Film, Best British Director, and Best Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy). The Best Director was David Fincher for the fantasy The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Curiously, Kate Winslet was named Best Actress for two movies, Stephen Daldry’s The Reader and Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road – while losing out in the Best British Actress category to Kristin Scott Thomas for Philippe Claudel’s French-made I’ve Loved You So Long / Il y a longtemps que je t’aime. Go figure.

Michael Fassbender was the Best British Actor for his performance as Irish National Liberation Army member and hunger-striking political prisoner Bobby Sands in Steve McQueen’s Hunger, about the last six weeks in Sands’ life, during which time he was elected to the British Parliament. He died at age 27 on May 5, 1981.

It should be noted that McQueen’s generally well-regarded psychological/political drama has been all but ignored by American critics and the various U.S.-based awards-season groups.

Single loser Michael Fassbender

Ironically, Michael Fassbender was the sole Best Actor loser at the Evening Standard British (& Irish) Film Awards: his two competitors, Patt Short for Lenny Abrahamson’s Garage and Michael Sheen for Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon, jointly topped that category.

But if the Evening Standard Award voters didn’t find Fassbender worthy of their Best Actor honor, they at least did find his film – Hunger – the best British release of the year.

Slumdog Millionaire, which has been the critics’ and everybody else’s darling on the western side of the North Atlantic, wasn’t even in contention for Best Film. (Though it’s no less a “British production” than Best Film nominee Frost/Nixon.) Danny Boyle, however, was shortlisted for Best Director, ultimately losing to Stephen Daldry for The Reader.

The Best Actress was Tilda Swinton for her troubled extortionist in Erick Zonca’s Julia.

Also from the U.K.: The BCC World Cinema winner’s jury – headlined by John Hurt – selected Cristian Mungiu’s Romanian abortion drama 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days / 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile as their pick among five non-English-language contenders. The nominees – every single one a European production or co-production – had been chosen by 200 or so U.K.-based film critics.

The Downfall of Berlin: Anonyma / A Woman in Berlin with Nina Hoss. Directed by Max Färberböck, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Catharina Schuchmann, The Downfall of Berlin: Anonyma is based on a(n anonymous) journalist’s diary first published in Switzerland in 1959, and in which the author discussed the mass rapes of German women perpetrated by Soviet forces. Färberböck is no stranger to the plight of women during World War II, as can be attested by his 1999 lesbian romantic drama Aimee & Jaguar, toplining Maria Schrader and Juliane Köhler.

Rotterdam & Santa Barbara winners

More early 2009 international film news: From Rotterdam, The Netherlands, to Santa Barbara, California.

The (as usual) three winners at the 2009 International Film Festival Rotterdam, which focuses on film debuts and sophomore efforts, were the following:

Yang Ik-June’s Breathless / Ddongpari, in which a nasty extortionist (played by Yang) has his life drastically altered after meeting a determined schoolgirl.

Mahmut Fazil Coskun’s Istanbul-set Wrong Rosary / Uzak ihtimal, about the problems encountered by a muezzin (the person who leads the call to Friday service at the mosque) after he falls in love with his neighbor, a Catholic nurse.

Set in Iran’s southern islands, Ramtin Lavafipour’s Be Calm and Count to Seven / Aram bash va ta haft beshmar, a chronicle of the day-to-day struggles of a family whose chief source of income is smuggling.

At the Santa Barbara Film Festival, the Best International Film Award went to Max Färberböck’s The Downfall of Berlin: Anonyma / A Woman in Berlin / Anonyma - Eine Frau in Berlin, the tale of a nameless woman (Nina Hoss) attempting to survive in Berlin in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation of that city.

Peter Sellers Award for Comedy* Sally Hawkins for her performance in Happy-Go-Lucky.
Eddie Marsan for his performance in Happy-Go-Lucky.
Chris Waitt for his documentary A Complete History of My Sexual Failures.

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